Over the past three years, Thea McLeod has been busy. As the founder and owner of Oak & Aspen Soapery, she’s developed a line of all-natural, environmentally conscious bath and body products, ranging from soaps to scrubs and bath bombs.
And it all started out as a pandemic project – when she found herself with a newfound hobby she enjoyed.
“I think a lot of small businesses emerged during that time ‘cause people had all that spare time, right?” she says.
Just before the pandemic hit, McLeod and her husband took an introductory course to learn how to make bath and body products. At the time, it was something fun to do – but it quickly became something more.
“Every weekend I’d make a new batch and then, you wanna make another ‘cause you want a different scent and you’re like, OK, well now I have 50 bars of soap,” she laughs. “So I just started selling to family and friends and from there it’s like, well, maybe I can make bath bombs. And it just grew into this passion I didn’t know I had.”
Since then, she has grown Oak & Aspen from a home-based business into a full-time operation, complete with several staff and a warehouse space. She’s expanded the product line to include items like sugar scrubs, bath bombs, and her No. 1 selling product: shower steamers, which promise a steamy cloud of mint and eucalyptus for those who prefer showers to baths.
She’s also developed some home and kitchen cleaning products, like toilet tabs and basil-scented dish soap, and has begun offering workshops for those interested in learning how to make their own bath and body products.
It’s all quite a lot of growth for a business that’s just a few years old. But with more products in the works, McLeod is nowhere near done yet.
“All I can say is, keep an eye on us,” she says. “There’s going to be a lot of good stuff to come.”
Shop at oakandaspensoapery.com
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